6.08.2008

This song is stuck in my head. Partly because “August Rush” was a gorgeous movie (with a fantabulous cast), but mostly because the nights here in Morocco are breathtaking. The air is dry, the nights are cold – especially here, in the Atlas mountains! – and cloudless nights are common. The stars (itran) are brilliant, and the moon is breathtaking. Ayoor – moon – is actually one of the very first words I learned outside of the classroom, and it was because I was so struck by its beauty that I asked my host sister-in-law—repeatedly—what it was. Itar (star) wasn’t far behind.

It took longer to learn the word for planet – kawkub – just because I couldn’t explain to my host family what I meant. When I tried to explain what I wanted, my very well-intentioned host family first gave me the list of months (since I’d mentioned “Mars”, which means March in French), then the word for star again, and when I finally drew a picture of the sun with the nine orbiting bodies, they gave me the names for the seven heavens. I gave up and asked H** the next day in class.

It’s rather embarrassing, really, for a former planetary scientist to be unable to explain the concept of a planet. I plead language barriers. And maybe educational ones; I’m not sure anyone in my first host family had had enough schooling to have learned the nine planets. But, yeah, it’s still a little embarrassing. Maybe one of the reasons I like my adopted name so much – Kawtar – is that it helps me be sure I’ll never forget the word for planet. Another semi-homonym of my name is kawkaw (peanut). (And my host family already uses that as a nickname for me, from time to time. :) ) Peanut butter almost doesn’t exist in Morocco (there’s a chance you can find it at one of the six marjan (superstores) in the six biggest cities, but that’s it), but peanuts themselves are common. I’ve had them plain, salt-roasted, and sugared. I have no idea what they do to make sugared peanuts – they also end up turning pink – but it’s fabulous. It’s like the offspring of a cross between peanuts and rock candy. :)

The Innocent

I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer working in a Berber village (which I refer to as Berberville) near a larger Berber town (which I call SouqTown) in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco.
My neighbors call me Kauthar, the Arabic name I've adopted. It's from the Qur'an, and means "the abundance of good", including the river in heaven.
Feel free to email me at innocentablogged@gmail.com. The only "stupid question" is the one you don't ask. :)